Murder Suspects Accused of Making Weapons in Jail, Trying to Kill Guards and Their Families

Documents filed by the Missoula County Attorney’s Office this week reveal ongoing abuse and threatening behavior by two of Missoula’s most notorious murder suspects. Tiffany Pierce and Augustus Standingrock were arrested two months ago after allegedly murdering a man and teenage girl, chopping up the bodies, and then attempting to decompose the bodies in chemicals. Now, authorities say they are spending their time in jail trying to obtain weapons and threatening others.

It appears the two have been actively trying to make weapons: Standingrock has been found with sharpened pencils multiple times, Pierce managed to obtain a toilet plunger handle from another inmate. Both have tried flooding their cells and have been caught trying to coordinate through a shower vent.

Motions filed by the County Attorney’s Office in response to the Defendants motion to use the law library describe conversations Pierce had with other inmates saying: “They discussed how much force/torque pressure it would take to break someone’s neck with one’s hands. They talked about finding the families of the officers and killing/hurting them. They talked about taking a camera from the cell wall and using the cords to choke out a guard. Defendant added that if she ever gets out, she is going to shoot a cop in the face.” Pierce has also been accused of shouting at a mentally ill inmate and then threatening to rip the head off of the detention officer that asked her to stop.

A similar motion concerning Standingrock records that he was involved in a violent incident on September 11th that began when he “made a weapon by breaking the handle of a shower brush, sharpening it and then damaged windows with it.” Standingrock then reportedly used the weapon to threaten security staff and refused to lock-down for two hours.

Because of legal limitations, KGVO was not able to interview County Attorney Kirsten Pabst about the incidents. All of these charges are contained in court documents responding to requests from Pierce and Standingrock’s attorneys for them to get access to the jail’s law library. The county argues that they shouldn’t be granted additional movement, because they pose an ongoing safety risk and because they have attorneys working on their behalf.